Targus Laptop Charger - APA30AU product reviews

Having done my dash as a global traveller over the span of many years, and some of the later ones being with portable computing technology, I can vouch for the fact that power chargers can be a nightmare to deal with as you jump countries. Those that survive the rigours of travel often need repairs... or to be replaced when they vanish somewhere between Singapore and Bangladesh... or such isolated pockets of civilisation as Auckland and Wellington.

That's where this little beauty comes in handy... it pretty much doesn't matter what you run, this will give it the power it needs, with an array of interchangeable heads that ensure it will plug into any power port on compatible devices - and there are literally hundreds in the list. You can check for yourself, if you can get the PDF 'compatibility chart' to download off the Targus website correctly, or decide to do it the easy way and use the free iOS app, available from the iTunes store, that will let you check devices easily on your iOS device. Just enter the make and model of your device, and the app will feed you back the right charger and nib selection for that perfect, worry-free power-up. The best bit... if the nib you need doesn't come with the device by default.. you can enter your details and they will send it out to you!

Not having access to hundreds of assorted devices that I could test, I made do with the three laptops and 1 old tablet PC we have lying around for testing various things... without a hitch, all of them... even - to my utter surprise - the old HP tablet that has to be at least 5 years old, if not more. Of all the tests we ran this through, this alone surprised and impressed me more than anything else.

OK, so a little bit of tech-geek: this charger will easily and automatically handle any device that can accept 18.5-20 volts with a constant draw of 90 watts. Basically... any modern laptop. It will only accept 240 volt input, so if you need to travel overseas, you would be smart to take either a universal plug adapter, or be willing to buy a cord in every port. (Steady on Sailor... I'm not that kind of laptop charger.)

Yes, you can buy replacement chargers specifically for your brand of gear, for less than this... agreed and undeniable. BUT... they will power ONLY the one device. The beauty of this little baby is that, with the interchangeable nibs, you can have ONE transformer that can drive a number of devices - one at a time, but none the less, the implication is that you will only need to charge one major device at a time, and any smaller devices can probably be charged via USB from that... a distributed network tree of battery refills. And when you are done recharging the Dell, you can swap nibs and recharge the HP, then the Asus, etc. PERFECT for those LAN parties where your mate forgot his charger and he's got a different brand and plug size in his machine.

Overall, though I hesitate to rate this as "must have" none the less it borders on that. It's a bit like having a toolkit in the car boot... you may not need that adjustable ring crescent spanner 99 times out of 100... but that 1 time you do, you'll know it was worth having the foresight to get it BEFORE the dice rolled against you.